Friday, December 28, 2007

End-Of-Year Awards -- Day Two: TV

Costco is Hell. That's all there is to it. Onwards:

Plot Twist of the Year: (Spoilers, obviously)

Runners-Up:

"My Name Is Earl" -- Earl goes to jail. Gave them a chance to introduce some new characters like Michael Rappaport's Frank and a very funny Craig T. Nelson's Warden. Also led to the most controversial sitcom episode I can remember -- the gay gang leaders.

"House" -- House fires his team and brings in a group of young doctors to compete. Allowed for some fresh faces and comedy, plus pushed along the subplot of Foreman basically being House II.

"Heroes" -- The great villain of Takezo Kensei/Adam Monroe. David Anders was a great bad guy on "Alias" as well. Also, the "Five Years Later" episode aired in 2007.

Winner:

"Lost" -- What else? There is a Jewish song called "Dayenu", meaning "that would have been enough". If we only had the episode where Desmond sees the future, dayenu. If we only saw what happened to the Dharma Initiative, dayenu. If we only saw Locke's meeting with Jacob, and Ben's reaction, dayenu. But then, just when we were obsessed with what the !#@$ was going on and overlooking the basic question of will they get rescued, we find out they were. And it was the worst thing that ever happened to them. What will happen next?

Disappointment of the Year:

Runners-Up:

"American Idol" -- One good contestant (Melinda) and a bunch of very average talent. Boring.

"Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip" -- Only one brilliant episode (the Eli Wallach/blacklist one) and the rest didn't make me care if the show stayed or went.

Most of "Entourage" -- Until the last few episodes, the show was awful this year. What kind of cartoonish situation could they put Drama in this time?

Winner:

"24" -- Speaking of cartoonish! Isaac Newton would be proud because it was pure inertia that kept me from bailing mid-season.

Acting Performance of the Year:

Runners-Up:

Chandra Wilson (Dr. Miranda Bailey, "Grey's Anatomy") -- No matter how cheesy the show can get at times, Wilson is always the center of attention. She's different from the other people in this category because she dominates as part of an ensemble cast.

Tony Shalhoub (Adrian Monk, "Monk") -- Don't sleep. "Monk" is quirky, engaging, emotional, and entertaining. It's the best show that nobody talks about and it's all for one reason -- Shalhoub's performance.

Michael C. Hall (Dexter Morgan, "Dexter") -- With the inner monologue, this show literally depends solely on Hall, and he delivers, big time. He's probably even more surprisingly like-able than Tony Soprano.

Winner:

Hugh Laurie (Dr. Gregory House, "House") -- What can I say? Greg House is as good as it gets.

Reality TV Personality of the Year:

Runners-Up:

Yau-Man ("Survivor: Fiji") -- Who can forget his craziness when he found the hidden immunity idol? He was the man -- competing in challenges with much younger contestants.

Taylor ("Kid Nation") -- Deal with it! She's the kid we all love to hate.

Todd ("Survivor: China") -- The gay Mormon flight attendant! He joins Richard, Yul, and Earl in playing the best strategic games. Plus, he played it just about exactly as I would.

Cut To Black -- The most memorable moment (maybe out of TV as well) of the year. David Chase plays his final, brilliant card.

Show of the Year:

Runners-Up:

"The Soup" -- As I've said before, a must-DVR every week. I get so much of my pop culture knowledge from this show and Joel McHale does a great job of walking the fine line between mockery and respect.

"Curb Your Enthusiasm" -- Just remember this year, Leon = funny. The ones where Larry may be racist and with the "rat dog" were classic, as was the final 1:02 above. Even with one weak episode (the John McEnroe one), the show was good as ever.

"Lost" -- The episodes that aired in 2007 just kept getting better and better. I've extolled its virtues earlier, but I'll say again that I can't wait until January 31st.

Winner:

"The Sopranos" -- This isn't a lifetime-achievement award. "The Sopranos" was TV at its near-best (only "The Wire" as the exception, which didn't air in 2007) and we were riveted to every second of every episode. From the fight with Bobby, through the collapse of organized crime, to the final family dinner; David Chase played out his end-game to perfection.